Gums

You are what you chew -- that's what the crowded gum aisle seems to suggest. Spicy cinnamon sticks, spearmint pellets with whitening sparkles, explode-in-your-mouth strawberry-lime pillows: There's a flavor and form to suit every personality. Soon, gums may offer more than just tongue-tingling tastes and tooth-brightening properties. Scientists are probing for evidence that habitual chewing can make us healthier and more alert, not to mention thinner and better at remembering names.

Harvard researchers say they have found strong evidence that gum disease may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, which is the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The researchers, using data from the 51,529 participants of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, reported on 216 cases of pancreatic cancer during a 16-year period starting in 1986, according to the study published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. turned over the leadership of its chewing-gum empire to an outsider for the first time after four generations in the Wrigley family, naming former Nike Inc. Chief Executive William Perez on Monday to replace Bill Wrigley Jr. as CEO after a turbulent year. Wrigley will remain chairman of the 114-year-old company, a job he has held along with the chief executive's role since his father died in 1999.

In a bid to resolve a sticky mess, a judge has decided that an Argentine company can continue making its sweet-tasting Bazooka gum even though its relationship with Topps Co., which made the brand famous, has long since soured. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. described not just the decades-long history of the companies but also the millenniums-old history of gum, stretching back to when the ancient Greeks chewed on a substance made from the resin of the mastic tree.

Re: "Get Healthy, Then Get Pregnant" [June 5]: I am disappointed that your article never advised women who are planning to get pregnant to get a dental examination to ensure that there is no periodontal [gum] disease. Periodontal disease is caused by a chronic bacterial infection that can increase the risk of preterm birth. Overall, studies have concluded that pregnant women who have moderate to severe periodontal disease may be seven times more likely to deliver a premature child than women with healthy gums.

Apparently, one 12-year-old visitor to the Detroit Institute of Arts doesn't think much of abstract art. The boy stuck a wad of gum to a $1.5-million painting called "The Bay" by Helen Frankenthaler, leaving a stain the size of a quarter, officials said. The boy, who was not identified because of his age, was part of a school group that was visiting the museum last week when officials said he took a piece of gum out of his mouth and stuck it on the 1963 painting.

When the holiday cookies, sugar plums, pie and other treats prove especially tempting this year, give yourself an early gift: Unwrap a stick of chewing gum. Not only can chewing gum help suppress your appetite, but it also appears to cut the craving for sweets, a study has found. The result is a slight, but measurable, decline in calorie consumption, just the thing that could help you maintain your weight at a time of year when many people gain a few unwanted pounds.

Singaporeans are seeing HBO's "Sex and the City" on TV. Actors may utter four-letter words on stage. Opposition parties can gather without police permission -- as long as they do it indoors. Tiny and famously disciplined Singapore, which turned 40 last month, its continuing to lighten up. Gone are the days when chewing gum and long hair were banned. Singaporeans are even allowed to bungee-jump and dance on bar tables.

Missing teeth and gum disease at an early age may be linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, researchers have found, bolstering the increasingly strong connection between early exposure to chronic inflammation and the degenerative brain disorder. The study, among the findings presented last week at the first Alzheimer's Assn. International Conference on Prevention of Dementia, examined lifestyle factors of more than 100 pairs of identical twins.

This weekend, Dubble Bubble holds its sixth annual competition to find that one person in the United States who blows 'em big -- chewing gum bubbles, that is. The former titleholder, 11-year-old Aina Cambridge of Lakewood, competed with 1 million other contestants and won her crown and prize money back in 2003. She blew a whopping 21-incher that landed her a space in the finals in New York held live on the "Today" show.